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1 PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS INTEGRATING LEARNING WITH LIFE AND WORK TO INCREASE NATIONAL COLLEGE COMPLETION A REPORT TO THE U.S. CONGRESS AND SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE WASHINGTON DC FEBRUARY 2012

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3 PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS INTEGRATING LEARNING WITH LIFE AND WORK TO INCREASE NATIONAL COLLEGE COMPLETION A REPORT TO THE U.S. CONGRESS AND SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE WASHINGTON DC FEBRUARY 2012

4 ADVISING CONGRESS AND THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION Since 1988 Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance 80 F Street NW, Suite 413 Washington DC Tel: 202/ Fax: 202/ The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (Advisory Committee) is a Federal advisory committee chartered by Congress, operating under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA); 5 U.S.C., App.2). The Advisory Committee provides advice to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education on student financial aid policy. The findings and recommendations of the Advisory Committee do not represent the views of the Agency, and this document does not represent information approved or disseminated by the Department of Education.

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY College completion rates are stagnant or falling today, particularly among young Americans, a trend that threatens to undermine the nation s global competitiveness and further exacerbate inequality in the nation s income distribution. In the past, efforts to ensure academic quality, access, and student success in higher education have produced among the highest college completion rates in the world. Thus, reversing the current trend and increasing college completion has become an imperative at all levels of American government. At the federal level, the goal to have the world s highest rate of college completion is now front and center. Achieving this important goal by 2020 will require a formidable effort to increase the nation s college degrees and certificates. Previous Advisory Committee reports have shown how challenging achievement of the 2020 goal will be among the nation s recent high school graduates. Complementing those reports, this effort focuses on students referred to in the past as the nontraditional population, the largest subset of students in the nation. Defining or labeling this population concisely is virtually impossible, given the considerable diversity of its demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Categorized across the dimensions of age, marital status, family size and composition, level and type of employment, and educational preparation and goals, this population often referred to as 21 st century or contemporary students consists of many subgroups, each with unique circumstances, educational needs, and goals. Achieving the 2020 goal among these students is an undertaking as daunting as the population is large and diverse. The task is made more difficult by two considerations. First, higher education is not structured to serve this population adequately nor are most financial aid programs. Second, unlike that for recent high school graduates, nationally representative data that tracks nontraditional college enrollment and persistence do not exist. Increasing college completion among nontraditional students must begin with careful consideration of the invaluable experience of those in higher education who have dedicated their professional lives to better integrate higher learning with the life and work of these students. To bring these professionals together, the Advisory Committee held a hearing in Washington DC on September 30, 2011, and asked two panels of experts state and institutional to address three key questions of policy and practice related to adequately serving nontraditional students: Barriers: What are the primary barriers to access and persistence for nontraditional students? Best Practices: What are the most promising state and institutional strategies and policies for overcoming those barriers? Federal Role: What role should the federal government play in encouraging states and institutions to implement best practices? Highlights of the panelists responses at the hearing are shown in Exhibit One. The full transcript reveals a wealth of imperatives for policymakers to consider in developing a federal strategy (pages 7-65). The overriding consensus among the panelists was that increasing degree and certificate completion among nontraditional students will require modifications in the structure and delivery of higher education, as well as changes to federal student aid programs. Innovative proposals for policy and practice are highlighted throughout the transcript and summarized in Conclusions & Implications (pages 67-79). The ultimate challenge for the federal government is to find ways to encourage implementation of the best of these innovative state and institutional ideas, while simultaneously increasing degree and certificate completion among recent high school graduates who have prepared for and aspire to college. iii

6 EXHIBIT ONE: HIGHLIGHTS OF PANEL DISCUSSIONS Overall we have to reengage the question of whether or not our financial aid systems as they relate to students are fundamentally built for students who no longer exist. Travis Reindl, National Governors Association (NGA) Our fundamental problem is that we don t have very good ways of measuring our fundamental product I think the key is getting some agreement about learning outcomes and generating more of them. Paul Lingenfelter, State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) I think the federal government can do a lot more to support the creation and maintenance of open educational resources and open courseware And we have to focus on smart regulations. Peter Stokes, Eduventures, Inc. A career pathway is a series of connected educational programs and student supports that enable the nontraditional student to get the training he or she needs to secure or advance in a demand industry. Camille Preus, Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD) [In our program] we re matching a basic skill instructor along with their regular professional staff a very, very unique program. Scott Copeland, Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) Encourage greater consistency and articulation to serve students improve access to PLA through online marketing, and educating admissions, advising personnel, and faculty about the practice. Amy Sherman, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Let s financially support the time faculty members spend assessing student learning apart from course delivery [that is,] how much the participants already know about what the course is intended to teach. Thomas Flint, Kaplan University (KU) It would be helpful to colleges and universities if the IPEDS database provided institutions with more accurate systems to report and track the enrollment patterns of nontraditional learners. Chris Bustamante, Rio Salado College Look at a new demonstration project that focuses on innovative models like competency-based education Support acceleration, remove the notion of seat time, and redefine the concept of faculty. Scott Jenkins, Western Governors University (WGU) There may be a need for a new grant program for middle-income working students Another idea may be to have incentives for employers to provide tuition assistance to their employees. Javier Miyares, University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Spotlight best practices at all levels of higher education, not just community colleges Promote more collaboration among all types of higher education institutions. Thomas Dalton, Excelsior College Improve the general rigor of our secondary education curricula and assure much improved high school completion rates support a federal initiative to educate older adults in [STEM fields]. Robert Lapiner, New York University (NYU) iv

7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Advisory Committee thanks representatives from the higher education community for their invaluable contributions to this report on increasing degree completion among nontraditional students. In addition to the 12 panelists (Appendix D) whose testimony at the Advisory Committee s September 30, 2011, hearing is provided in the transcript for this report, those who assisted our efforts include: Ten individuals who provided valuable testimony at the March 17, 2011, hearing: Thomas Babel Bryan Cook Vickie Choitz Barbara Duffield John Emerson Melissa Gregory Anne Hedgepeth Carol Kasworm Demarée Michelau Laura Perna Ten individuals who submitted written testimony for the September 30, 2011, hearing (available at the following link: Vickie Choitz John Ebersole Tom Flint Natala Hart Reshma Patel Lashawn Richburg-Hayes Matthew Smith Julie Strawn Bruce Vandal David Warren We would also like to thank Laura Brown for her assistance in writing this report. In addition, we thank Erin Walsh and Beth Kenefick for providing valuable resources on nontraditional students. Lastly, we thank our former designated federal official (DFO), Dan Madzelan, for his assistance and expertise throughout the course of the study. v

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9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Acknowledgements..... iii v Understanding the Challenge Understanding Nontraditional Students Meeting the Challenge Meeting the Challenge: A Discussion with Experts State Panel Institutional Panel Conclusions & Implications The Need for a National Partnership Role of the Federal Government Role of the States Role of the Institutions.... Role of the Private Sector Conclusion..... Resources Appendix A: Examples of Nontraditional Student Subgroups..... Appendix B: Examples of Barriers by Subgroup..... Appendix C: March 17 Hearing Panelists..... Appendix D: September 30 Hearing Panelists.... Appendix E: ACSFA Members.... Appendix F: ACSFA Staff..... Appendix G: ACSFA Authorizing Legislation

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11 UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE In February 2009, President Obama announced his commitment to ensure that, by 2020, the United States will once again lead the world with the highest proportion of college graduates. In the past, the U.S. has had among the highest college completion rates of all countries. However, based on the 2011 Education at a Glance report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), college attainment rates for young adults in the U.S. have remained relatively stagnant at around 40 percent in the recent past, while college completion among its greatest competitors has been rapidly increasing (de Vise 2011). As a result, the U.S. has been falling in rank among the share of degreed adults age 25 to 34 among developed nations (OECD 2011). In addition, a 2010 Brookings Institution report, State of Metropolitan America, notes that the bachelor s degree attainment rate of American 24- to 34-year-olds is now lower than that of 35- to 44-year-olds, as opposed to past trends (Berube et al 2010). Stagnant or falling degree attainment rates, particularly among young Americans, threaten the nation s overall global competitiveness and further exacerbate inequality in income distribution. In the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (P.L ), Congress reauthorized the Advisory Committee and charged it to provide annual reports on the condition of postsecondary access and persistence through Specifically, each annual report must contain analyses and policy recommendations regarding the adequacy of grant aid from all sources and the postsecondary enrollment and graduation rates of low- and moderate-income students. This report on nontraditional students constitutes the third annual report to Congress and the Secretary of Education. (To view the statutory language authorizing the Advisory Committee and the annual reports, see Appendix G.) Understanding Nontraditional Students In order to better understand the challenges inherent in meeting the President s goal, the Advisory Committee endeavored to complete a set of reports to address the access and persistence needs of students today. To accomplish this, the Committee addressed both traditional and nontraditional students, recognizing that each respective group has their own unique challenges and needs. Traditional Students. Using the ample data available for traditional students, the Advisory Committee s 2010 report, The Rising Price of Inequality (RPI), makes clear that substantial enrollment shifts triggered by family financial concerns are moving initial enrollment of qualified high school graduates away from four-year colleges. These shifts are significant because data have shown where students begin college largely determines their likelihood of persistence and degree completion. The findings from RPI project the loss of more than 3 million bachelor s degrees from 2000 to 2009 due to financial barriers. Nontraditional Students. RPI s findings have implications for the nontraditional student population as well. For example, financial barriers to higher education are a primary cause of part-time and delayed enrollment. Therefore, in terms of the access and persistence pipeline, traditional high school graduates who face the effects of financial barriers actually give rise to the nontraditional student population in the first place. Recognizing that nontraditional students are a growing portion of college students and are less likely to persist and complete degree programs than full-time traditional students is critical. According to a 1996 analysis from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), only 31 percent of nontraditional undergraduates with a bachelor s degree objective attained a degree within five years as opposed to 54 percent of traditional undergraduates (Horn & Carroll 1996). In addition, 38 percent of nontraditional undergraduates left school in their first year as opposed to 16 percent of traditional undergraduates (Horn & Carroll 1996). Given the alarming degree attainment trends and 1

12 projections among traditional high school graduates based on analyses from RPI, the Advisory Committee has dedicated this third annual report to addressing the challenge of degree completion for nontraditional students. In order to understand the challenge of degree attainment for nontraditional students, the Advisory Committee conducted a literature review, convened two hearings, and used numerous meetings, presentations, and conversations with experts to gain feedback on the study. On March 17, 2011, the Advisory Committee convened its first hearing panel, which consisted of highly regarded researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. (See Appendix C for a list of the March 17 hearing panelists, including biographical information.) The discussion at the hearing addressed two main issues: Defining nontraditional students Barriers to access and persistence that nontraditional students face today The following provides a summary of the ideas and background research for that hearing discussion in these two areas. Defining Nontraditional Students. The historical definition of a nontraditional student no longer references a minority among college students today. The term was originally used to describe students who tended to delay entry to college from high school, were not from typical socially dominant groups, or were often not full-time students learning in the classroom (Schuetze & Slowey 2002). However, the change from an elite to a mass higher education system in the late twentieth century resulted in a significant increase in the number of students historically considered nontraditional, making them a majority in higher education today (Schuetze & Slowey 2002). Despite their prominence in the student population, nontraditional students are still not adequately served in the higher education community. For example, too often institutions offer classes at times that are inconvenient for the nontraditional student, or do not make available adequate financial aid for these students, or the students themselves do not find campuses easy to navigate. In addition, nontraditional students are typically left out of national longitudinal data sets, preventing researchers from conducting useful analyses on this large and diverse student population. The lack of recognition and data on the nontraditional student population presents a serious obstacle to understanding this group in the present day. Compounding this diminished understanding of nontraditional students is the lack of a precise or consistent definition. At least three definitions have been proposed in the literature (Kim 2002): Age. Often used as a criterion for nontraditional students is age, typically 25 and older (Kim 2002). However, age fails to acknowledge that adult students lack homogeneity regarding patterns of attendance, reasons for pursuing college, challenges, resources, etc., and that adult students are defined in varying ways by researchers, educators, and other service providers (Hughes 1983). In addition, it does not recognize that differences between nontraditional and traditional students may be attributed to factors other than age (Kim, Sax, Lee & Hagedorn 2010). Consequently, this leaves out traditional-age students who may exhibit nontraditional characteristics (Kim, Sax, Lee & Hagedorn 2010). Background characteristics. Those used to define nontraditional students can include socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and first-generation and employment status (Rendón 1994). A more inclusive definition than age, background characteristics are meant to account for the 2

13 competing demands on nontraditional students from factors such as work, family, school, and culture (Rendón 1994). At-risk characteristics. Nontraditional students have also been characterized using factors that may increase their risk of attrition (Kim 2002). In a frequently cited definition used by the National Center for Education Statistics, a student is considered nontraditional if he or she exhibits any of the following characteristics: delays enrollment into postsecondary education attends part-time is financially independent of parents works full-time while enrolled has dependents other than a spouse is a single parent lacks a standard high school diploma (Horn & Carroll 1996). Students are considered to be minimally nontraditional if they have one of these characteristics, moderately nontraditional if they have two or three, and highly nontraditional if they have more than four (Horn & Carroll 1996). In , 73 percent of all undergraduates had one or more of these characteristics (Horn & Carroll 1996). The nontraditional population is also expected to increase in the coming years. Between 2009 and 2020, NCES projects there will be a 21 percent increase in students aged 25 to 34 and a 16 percent increase in students aged 35 and above (Hussar & Bailey 2011). Nontraditional students may also be described by a variety of labels and consist of many subgroups, each with unique circumstances, goals, and needs. (Please see Appendix A for examples of subgroups that comprise the nontraditional student population.) To better understand the prevalence of nontraditional undergraduates today, please view the following nationally representative data compiled by the Center for Law and Social Policy (2011): Students-Facts-2011.pdf. Given the lack of clarity and precision, the terms nontraditional and nontraditional student are considered problematic by both scholars and practitioners (Levin 2007). Appreciative of the various issues associated with defining a nontraditional student, the Advisory Committee will use the broadest definition available for this report to uncover all possible barriers to access and persistence that the nontraditional student population faces today. The Committee defines a nontraditional student as any student who fails to fit the traditional student template, which generally refers to an 18- to 24-year-old full-time college student. Among the students included in the nontraditional definition are not only older students, but students who may face additional challenges or barriers, e.g., foster youth, veterans, men and women on active duty, and first-generation college students. Taxonomy of Barriers to Access. Cross s (1981) classification of barriers to participation in learning activities is often cited in the literature for nontraditional students and provides a strong framework for categorizing barriers. In addition, factors that fall into these three categories may also affect barriers to persistence. Cross s three categories of barriers are: Situational Institutional Dispositional 3

14 Situational barriers refer to conditions at a given time that limit the student s ability to access and pursue higher education (Cross 1981). Cost and lack of time are the most commonly cited (Cross 1981). For example, adult learners may be deterred from pursuing higher education because they lack time due to family and job commitments. Alternately, low-income and younger students may not be able to afford postsecondary education. Other conditions, such as lack of child care for single parents and transportation issues for students with disabilities, also limit the ability of students to engage in postsecondary activities. Institutional barriers consist of practices and procedures which may discourage or exclude students from pursuing postsecondary education (Cross 1981). Barriers that fall under this category include, but are not limited to, problems with scheduling or transportation, the provision of courses that lack relevance or practicality, bureaucratic issues, the number of course requirements, and lack of adequate information about postsecondary opportunities (Cross 1981). Dispositional barriers refer to student perceptions of their ability to access and complete learning activities (Cross 1981). For example, due to their age, older adults may have negative perceptions of their ability to learn. Students with poor educational experiences may lack interest in learning activities. Adult students, especially low-income adults, may experience low self-esteem and become concerned about how younger students will perceive them. In addition, many adults returning to complete college experience anxiety and fear because they have not engaged in postsecondary study for a period of time. MacKeracher, Suart, and Potter (2006) also note that certain factors may fall under more than one category of barrier, depending on origin. For example, financial support can be considered a situational barrier if the student lacks access to sufficient funds to pay for their education (MacKeracher, Suart & Potter 2006). On the other hand, finances can be considered an institutional barrier when fees for admission and registration are high, institutions require students to purchase computers or other additional resources, and governments lack flexible means to provide financial support to students (MacKeracher, Suart & Potter 2006). Alternately, finances can be considered a dispositional barrier if a student believes that the cost of pursuing higher education outweighs the benefits (MacKeracher, Suart & Potter 2006). Taxonomy of Barriers to Persistence. Bean and Metzner s (1985) model for the barriers to persistence is well established in the literature and emphasizes factors perceived to influence persistence for nontraditional students. For example, social integration, which includes factors such as extracurricular participation, school friends, and faculty contact, has not been shown through research to have as significant an impact on persistence for nontraditional students, while influences in the external environment are typically more important (Metzner & Bean 1987). Notably, the Bean and Metzner model emphasizes the external forces on a nontraditional student and deemphasizes the importance of social integration. Bean and Metzner indicated four sets of variables as the bases of the withdrawal decision for nontraditional students. The four sets are: Academic Performance Intent to Leave Background and Defining Variables Environmental Variables Academic performance. Students with poor academic performance, measured by a student s grade point average, are more likely to drop out. Intent to leave. Intent to leave is affected by academic variables and psychological factors. 4

15 Academic variables. Academic advising, study habits, absenteeism, major certainty, and course availability indirectly affect persistence through GPA, psychological outcomes, and intent to leave. For example, at the institutional level, high-quality academic advising may decrease the likelihood of attrition, while the lack of course availability may result in dropout or transfer, particularly for part-time students. Negative effects on persistence may also be based on study habits, with older students reporting longer study times than traditional-age students, or it may be based on absenteeism, which is more likely to be related to dropping out. Lastly, major certainty has a significant positive effect on persistence regardless of age or residence. Psychological factors. Both academic and environmental variables directly affect psychological factors, such as utility, satisfaction, goal commitment, and stress, which consequently affect intent to leave. For example, some students may be more likely to persist if they perceive a practical utility to their education, experience satisfaction in the student role, and demonstrate a high level of goal commitment. Stress from college requirements or the external environment, on the other hand, may negatively affect persistence. Background and defining variables. These include age, enrollment status, residence, educational goals, high school performance, ethnicity, and gender, which often have an effect on future performance. Nontraditional students, especially those who are older, have been known to drop out at higher rates, have a part-time enrollment status, and live in a residence off campus due to family and work commitments. High school performance (as measured by factors such as high school GPA and rank) and educational goals (which can influence certainty of major, intent to transfer, goal commitment, and intent to leave) are both considered to have very strong effects on persistence. Environmental variables. Finances, hours of employment, family responsibilities, and transfer opportunities are factors that the institution cannot control, but that have potential to pull a student away from study. On the one hand, lack of finances, having more than 20 hours of employment per week, greater family responsibilities, and more transfer opportunities have been positively associated with attrition. On the other hand, encouragement from individuals outside the institution, such as family members and an off-campus employer, has been positively associated with persistence. In addition to the four sets of variables listed above, there are two notable compensatory effects in the Bean and Metzner model. The first suggests that environmental factors can compensate for the negative effects of academic variables. For example, students with enough family and employer support may persist despite uncertainty of major or poor advisement. Conversely, though, positive academic variables do not compensate for the negative effects of environmental factors, as family responsibilities and jobs usually come first for this population. The second compensatory effect suggests that if a student perceives a high level of utility, satisfaction, or goal commitment, then positive psychological outcomes may compensate for the negative effects of a lower academic outcome (GPA). However, the positive effect of a high GPA does not compensate for high levels of stress or low levels of utility, satisfaction, or goal commitment. While Cross and Bean & Metzner provide well-regarded models for barriers to access and barriers to persistence, respectively, the Advisory Committee understands that neither methodology is flawless. For example, Cross s typology focuses on the barriers associated with the nontraditional student s personal world. However, a conceptual frame for barriers broader than an individual s circumstances may be more appropriate in today s context, which could include barriers associated with governmental policy as well as community and private sector supports. Furthermore, Bean and Metzner s model focuses on older, part-time, and commuter students, which limits its applicability to a broader understanding of a 5

16 nontraditional student. Further research and analysis may be necessary to discover comprehensive models that are relevant to the present day. (Please see Appendix B for examples of barriers by subgroup in a sample of publications.) Meeting the Challenge Based on the literature review, conversations with experts, and findings of the March 17 discussion, the focus of the nontraditional students study shifted toward an examination of the best practices of states and institutions to improve degree and certificate completion among this population. The Advisory Committee concluded that a second hearing comprised primarily of higher education practitioners at the state and institutional levels would be the ideal approach to understanding these best practices. Building upon the results of its first hearing on this topic, the Advisory Committee held this second hearing on September 30, Two panels of experts six state and six institutional addressed three questions related to the barriers, best practices, and the federal role in increasing degree completion among nontraditional students. The panelists represented a wide variety of perspectives. State panelists included seasoned practitioners as well as distinguished representatives from higher education associations and organizations with extensive knowledge on nontraditional students. The institutional panelists, comprised solely of practitioners, included the perspectives of community colleges, proprietary, public, and private universities, with both online and traditional institutions represented. (See Appendix D for a list of the September 30 hearing panelists, including biographical information.) To supplement the September 30 hearing proceedings, the Advisory Committee issued a press release on August 29, 2011, calling for written testimony on the three questions that hearing panelists were asked to address. The Advisory Committee received submissions from ten individuals representing seven institutions or organizations. To view the press release and the submissions, please see: The September 30 hearing elicited a thoughtful and productive discussion. A modified transcript of the discussion comprises the second chapter of this report. For the navigational convenience of the transcript, callouts with imperatives for policy and practice are provided throughout and serve as an index to topics discussed at the hearing. As previously noted, discussion was guided by three main ideas, which are essential to understanding how to improve degree completion among nontraditional students: primary barriers to access and persistence for nontraditional students most promising state and institutional strategies and policies for overcoming these barriers federal role in encouraging states and institutions to implement best practices. The consensus among panelists was that improving degree and certificate completion among nontraditional students will require changes not only in the structure and delivery of higher education, but also to federal student aid programs. The final chapter of this report summarizes the results of the September 30 hearing discussion and its implications for federal policy. The United States currently lacks a comprehensive federal strategy for increasing college completion among nontraditional students. The following transcript provides insight into meeting the needs of these students through the knowledge and expertise of distinguished higher education representatives. 6

17 MEETING THE CHALLENGE: A DISCUSSION WITH EXPERTS Allison Jones (ACSFA Chair): In the past, the Advisory Committee s reports on college access and persistence have focused almost exclusively on 18- and 19-year-old high school graduates often referred to as the traditional student population. The main reason for this focus has been the large body of nationally representative data that exist for those students. However, it is equally important for our Committee to focus on the access and persistence issues facing the rest of the student population often referred to as the nontraditional student population. As you know, this is the larger population of students and the fastest growing. As you also know, nontraditional students face barriers to access and persistence that include the competing priorities of life and work. We will focus on those challenges today. This fall, the Advisory Committee will deliver a report to Congress and the Secretary of Education on nontraditional students. A transcript of the afternoon session today will be used as the core of that report. The written testimony provided both by our panelists here today and colleagues in the field will also inform that report. The afternoon session will be divided into two panels state and institutional. We will begin with the state panel. Both panels have been asked to address the following three questions on policy and practice: What are the primary barriers to access and persistence for nontraditional students? What are the most promising state and institutional strategies and policies for overcoming those barriers? What role should the federal government play in encouraging states and institutions to implement best practices? After the state panelists present their testimony, Advisory Committee members will have the opportunity to ask questions. Before we begin, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our very distinguished guest, Under Secretary Martha Kanter. Under Secretary Kanter, we appreciate your taking the time to join us today, and we want you to participate fully as you see fit. Please feel free to ask questions of the panelists and provide comments as the hearing progresses. I will now turn the floor over to our new Committee Vice Chair-Elect and moderator for both the state and institutional panels, Dr. Helen Benjamin. Helen Benjamin (ACSFA Vice Chair-Elect): Thank you very much, Allison. Good afternoon and welcome. I am very pleased to introduce our first six distinguished panelists for this very, very important topic. And, of course, as Allison has indicated, this is the state panel. Let me introduce: Mr. Travis Reindl, Program Director at the National Governors Association (NGA). Mr. Reindl oversees the postsecondary work area in the Center for Best Practices Dr. Paul Lingenfelter, President of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Dr. Peter Stokes, Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer at Eduventures, Inc. 7

18 Dr. Camille Preus, Commissioner for the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD) Mr. Scott Copeland, Policy Associate for Student Services at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) Ms. Amy Sherman, Associate Vice President for Policy and Strategic Alliances at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) (State panelist bios begin on page 101) Welcome again to all of you. We are looking forward to hearing the exciting ideas you are going to share with us this afternoon about nontraditional students. We will begin with Mr. Reindl. IMPERATIVES FOR POLICY & PRACTICE Increase Educational Attainment among Adult Learners Identify Best Practices in Serving the Adult Learner Travis Reindl: Thank you very much for having me this afternoon. I want to start by placing a couple of big issues on the table that governors are concerned about, which really leads us into a discussion of why it s so important to focus on what used to be called the nontraditional student, what I think the Lumina Foundation is now calling, rightly, the 21 st century student because it is the norm and not the exception. First and foremost, I think it s pretty apparent that one of the paramount concerns for governors right now is jobs. And not only job creation, which is a lot of the buzz, but job preservation. A lot of the high-paying, high-skill jobs in our economy are at risk, to be perfectly frank. To enable us to keep those jobs here in the United States, we have to have a talent pool that is equipped to take those jobs, especially in light of the impending exodus of the baby boomers. Maybe slightly delayed because of the economy, but, still, inevitable. We are all mortal, after all. Really understanding the nature of that talent pool leads to the second big observation, which is that in more than half of our states, the 18-to-24- year-old population is not where the action is, moving forward. We are looking at a situation where there is either slow or no growth projected in that age category. So we have to reach into that 25-plus age group for not only retraining and retooling, but initial education in many cases. I ll talk in a moment about some of those strategies that we see unfolding in states. That combination of reality, the absolute need to have a strong talent pool and the absolute need to reach into that pool in an area that has not always been particularly well-served when you look at participation and success rates among older adults in postsecondary education, it is not a pretty picture in a lot of states. You can see why governors would be so clearly interested in a policy agenda and, in some senses, best practice, around serving the adult learner. And it s particularly the working adult learner. So there are three critical areas where governors have asked us to focus our attention and where we, in turn, engage with states and recommend 8

19 practices and gather practices. And also, in our federal relations portfolio, [we] look at ways to interact with the Department of Education (ED), the Administration, and the Congress around priorities, places where states and [the] federal [government] can reach some common cause. The first is in goal setting. Along with the President s 2020 degree attainment goal we have goals in a number of our states regarding education attainment and boosting it between now and 2020, 2025, take your pick. The important facet that we need to keep front and center is to make explicit the role that adult learners will play in those goals because if we make it about an average and do not speak specifically to those populations that will grow in many of our states, it is very easy to continue to leave that group as an afterthought. Making very clear what our objectives are for increasing participation and success rates at all levels, from certificates to postdoctorals, is absolutely essential. We do continue to advocate for that kind of a disaggregation and focus within our states as they move to and through the goal setting process. The second relates to how we measure progress toward and achievement of those goals. There is the old saying that if you don t know where you re going, any road will get you there. As a result, the governors have asked us to invest a good deal of time and energy in the development and application of metrics that will really help us to gauge progress toward those ends. Working with Complete College America (CCA), we did develop a series of completion metrics, which were comprised both of progress and outcome measures. But the critical portion of that development, to me, was the fact that we were very cognizant of disaggregating, again, the student who is over the age of 25 and looking at, within institutions, systems of higher education, and state-wide systems, the progress, or lack thereof, that adult students are making. Where are they reaching those barriers in our higher education system? How long is it taking them to complete certificates and degrees? And to be able to tease that out because, if they are such a growth population and we do not know where they are hitting those spots in the road that lead to attrition we will not be able to develop the sorts of policy interventions that we need to fix the problem. Or where we see particular pockets of promise, to scale those and to support those in state policy, whether it s through regulation, or finance, or through some other means. We have been very focused, again, working in partnership with CCA. As you probably saw earlier this week, there is a group of more than half the states that are making significant progress in using those metrics. I think it s the beginning of a long process we will learn as we go. But the point is to be much clearer and much more explicit about this particular subgroup of the overall college-going population. The third area is policy. We can debate some particulars from state to state and area to area, but as a general observation, the way that we ve wired our systems, particularly in state policy, is not necessarily completely consistent with the needs and objectives of the adult learner. There are some tweaks that have to be made. We made an effort as an organization to address this in a report that we issued in February about IMPERATIVES FOR POLICY & PRACTICE Understand the Role of Adult Learners in 2020 Degree Attainment Goals Disaggregate, Measure, and Track Progress Made among Adult Learners Reexamine State Policies in Light of the Needs of Adult Learners 9

20 IMPERATIVES FOR POLICY & PRACTICE Create More Flexible and Integrated Learning Environments Develop and Deliver Comprehensive Support Services Integrate State Education and Workforce Data Systems increasing postsecondary attainment rates among adult students. [We] offered a policy framework that has four parts, that really tries to address those needs and highlights some examples, some of which are represented in this room. The first part we have to focus on is more flexible and integrated learning environments. I think we all know that the adult learner has life they have children, they have jobs, they have lots of obligations, and increasingly, parental obligations. We have to be able to design our learning environments so they have a time and place solution that allows them to make forward progress in an efficient fashion. A couple of examples that we have used consistently, and I think states are looking to consistently: in Washington State, the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) Program [which] integrat[es] basic skill acquisition with training for particular skills. It brings those pieces together so that you re not sending students sequentially through adult basic or remedial education and then on to skill training. That s a path on which a lot of students often wash out. Instead [it] integrates those in a way that keeps students on track. The results really speak for themselves, at least in the initial research. Western Governors University: a growing number of states are forming partnerships with an online, competencybased, nonprofit provider. The fact that we are looking at a competencybased provider (you move at the rate at which you can command the subject matter) is a development that will have profound implications for higher education over the long term. We re just starting to see the beginning of what that will mean. It is a format that is tailored in large measure for the place-bound working adult, who is a huge part of this talent pool that we re talking about. The second part is a bundling effect, what we called developing comprehensive support services. Again, the adult learner has many things going on in terms of their life, particularly low-income working adults. They re often interacting with the [traditional] social services system in ways that complicate life. You have to stop here, there, and then there, and by the time you get through it all, you ve forgotten which paper goes to whom. That leads to a frustration and attrition effect for adult learners. So states like Kentucky have designed programs like Ready-to-Work where they integrate some Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services provisions with community and technical colleges so that the student can bring all of their needs together in one place. There is interaction among those providers so that the student is front and center, not the process. The community and technical college system in Kentucky has graduated more than a thousand students already through this model, and I think there is further promise. The third part, as I mentioned in the discussion of metrics, is to track performance. Specifically, we need to better integrate our education and workforce data systems within states. With funding and leadership from the federal government on this, a number of states are taking very promising and strong steps. Paul s organization the State Higher Education Executive Officers has done an excellent job tracking 10

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